This invention relates to a document editing apparatus for editing documents or manuscripts containing characters and images without any hand work.
The rationalization of the office works is now under way under the name of the office automation. For the office works a most important consideration is paid to the proper management and utilization of documents. In order to utilize, for example, the documents without being hoarded, it is desirable to edit them in more utilizable form.
A simplest editing method is to manually stick cut regions of documents on a sheet. This method is very uneconomical from the standpoint of the preservation of the documents as well as the effective utilization of labor. As a solution to this problem, the following methods may be considered.
A first method is to enter specific marks and symbols designating an editing operation on a specific sheet and read out them by a facsimile unit so that the editing operation is carried out. In this method, it is necessary for an editor to designate cut regions of documents and corresponding sticking regions of the sheet. With the editing designation marks entered on the document, the document is soiled, presenting a document management problem. The use of the specific sheet prevents the wide acceptance of the image editing apparatus.
A second method is to perform an editing operation utilizing a computer. In this method, an editing mode and editing regions are designated through a keyboard, while displaying the document on a display unit. This method is desirable from the standpoint of the management of documents, because the documents can be stored as image data. It is necessary, however, for the editor to designate the cut regions of the documents and corresponding sticking regions of the sheet to the apparatus through the keyboard. It is difficult and time-consuming to prepare a new document by, for example, cutting desired regions from a plurality of documents and sticking them on a sheet of paper. For this reason, the editing operation depends much on the skill of the editor.